


Not Just Sparkles

by LilCrouton



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), F/M, I'm making this up as I go, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is Noah, Stiles Stilinski is Pushed Out of the Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilCrouton/pseuds/LilCrouton
Summary: Deaton convinces Scott that Stiles shouldn't be part of the pack. In an attempt to prove them wrong, Stiles finds some witches to teach him magic. Of course, when do things ever go right for Stiles?
Relationships: Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

##### In the end, it wasn't Scott that saved him.

* * *

"What do you mean you won't train me?!" Stiles' jaw drops in disbelief, "Why not?"  
"I have my reasons, Stiles." Deaton replies unhelpfully.  
"You're kidding me! So you complain about how I can't defend myself against the supernatural but you won't give me a way to hold my own against were-creatures with super-strength?!" Stiles all but growls, "Come on Scott, help me out here!" Stiles turns to his friend with a huff.  
"I dunno man..." Scott looks to Stiles, then his eyes shift over to Deaton. "I mean, Deaton's our emissary! He knows what he's doing. If he says that you shouldn't learn magic, I think we should trust him."  
"I'm sorry, _what?_ " Stiles stares at his best friend. "I think you missed the part before where he was telling you to essentially kick me out of your _life_.  
Scott looks down at his shoes but doesn't answer.  
"Scott?" Stiles' voice wavers as he takes in his friend's response.  
"Look, it's for the best, right?"  
Each word seems to drive a knife deeper and deeper into Stiles' heart.  
"I mean, like you said, you can't hold your own against werewolves. It would be better if you just stayed out of everything. We don't need you anymore. Lydia and Peter are more than capable of researching for us now. We can't afford to have someone so wea- uh, normal in the pack. You'd just be a liability."  
"So all that I was to you was a researcher? And here I thought we were _brothers_!" Stiles hisses. Something inside him shatters. He can practically feel his heart break as a sharp pain takes his breath away. "Apparently I'm just an idiot." Stiles pushes past Scott and makes his way to the door.  
As he opens the door, Stiles hesitates. Turning, he looks back at the pack. One by one he looks everyone in the eyes. Most of them can't even bring themselves to meet his gaze. Only Lydia and, surprisingly enough, Peter weren't staring at their feet. Lydia meets his gaze easily, an unidentifiable glint in her eyes. Peter, on the other hand, has what Stiles could only call a compassionate look on his face. But, this is _Peter_ , so clearly Stiles was reading that wrong.  
_Right?_  
Nonetheless, Stiles isn't sure what to make of either of those observations. 

"I- I just can't believe that Scott would just-just _abandon_ me like this!" Stiles is pacing back and forth in the dining room. His father is sitting at the table, letting Stiles rant. "I can't just _forget_ about all this!"  
"Trust me, Stiles... I've given up all hope of ever being able to get you to have any sense of self-preservation." Stiles' dad tries to lighten the mood a bit. It gets a small chuckle from Stiles, so he counts it as a win. "But that's part of what makes you _you_. You won't sit by while innocent people are in danger. And I know nothing I could ever say would make you leave this alone, and even if there were, I'd never ask you to. So, instead, I'll ask you this: What are you going to do about it?"  
Stiles looks at his father, shocked. "W-what?"  
"If you don't have the pack backing you up, how are you going to keep yourself safe? Don't look at me like that," Stiles' dad rolls his eyes at the look on Stiles' face, "We both know you'd only be bringing this up to me if you had a plan."  
"There's a witch in Nevada..." Stiles admits with a huff, "Caleb. He's helped me get info when Deaton insisted on being... less than helpful."  
"Like he is now?" Stiles' dad raises an eyebrow.  
"Yeah. Un, apparently he knows a coven just outside of LA that would be willing to, well, take me in for a while and teach me magic." Stiles bites his lip.  
"How long is a while?" The sheriff raises an eyebrow at his son.  
"That's the thing... we don't really know. I mean, it varies from person to person. And then this is a fairly new coven... Most covens won't teach people from outside their little groups. I'm lucky that there's some people willing to teach me so close, but since they're a new coven, they don't exactly have much experience teaching. It could take anywhere between a couple months to a couple years before I know the basics."  
"Wow..."  
"Yeah..."  


Stiles had honestly thought it was going to be harder to convince his dad to let him do this. But, instead, now Stiles was driving through some residential streets looking for the address Caleb gave him.  
Stiles pulls up to a small two story house. He can see a couple cars in the driveway as he parks on the street. At the sight of the cars a sick feeling settles in Stiles' gut.  
_Something's not right..._  
He frowns. There isn't exactly anything suspicious about there being more than one car in the driveway. Quite the opposite, in fact. Considering, you know, he's meeting a _coven_ of witches. But still... He can't shake the feeling. Stiles isn't sure what he should do. He can't exactly pass this opportunity up, there just aren't many options for a human in the supernatural world. Pretty much just learn magic or be turned into a were-creature. Or become a hunter.  
Pushing down the feeling, Stiles walks up to the door and knocks.  
"One sec!" A young man's voice calls out. Stiles fidgets with the hems of his shirt as he waits.  
"What am I getting myself into?" Stiles grumbles to himself.  
"Uh, I'm from out of town. I'm supposed to be meeting some people, but I think I have the wrong address or something. Sorry I-" Stiles' voice catches in his throat as his eyes catch on something in the hallway behind the man.  
_Crap. CrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!_  
There's a line of mountain ash farther down the hallway blocking off a doorway.  
The man's eyes flit to where Stiles is looking then back at him before narrowing  
Stiles turns to his jeep and-  
A hand yanks the back of his shirt, and Stiles is pulled into the house. The door slams closed as the hunter pulls out a gun.  
Stiles holds up his hands, "I don't suppose you're inviting me into give me directions, huh?" Stiles grins nervously. Now that he's farther into the house he can see that the living room looks like a murder scene. And, come to think of it, probably _is_ a murder scene, all things considered.  
"Shut it, kid," The man scowls at Stiles.  
"Look, man, I just-" Stiles lunges at the man mid-sentence, catching him off guard. He manages to knock the gun from the hunter's grip as they go tumbling to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, Stiles rushes for the door.  
And then he promptly collapses with a shout as his leg explodes in pain. Stiles gasps as he sees a crossbow bolt sprouting from his calf. As he stares at his leg all he can see is coach Finnstock on the ground with a bolt from Stiles' trap in him.  
Stiles' heartbeat pounds in his ears and suddenly he just can't _breath_. His vision swims, but Stiles is vaguely aware that the lady has reloaded her crossbow and is aiming it at him.  
_'I should move,'_ Stiles thinks numbly. He doesn't do anything. He can't. It feels like there's an elephant sitting on his chest as he sits there, eyes glued to his leg.  
Thoughts of doors and riddles and shadows and chess fly through his head.  
There's a commotion, and people are talking, but Stiles can't seem to make out any words even though it's taking place just a few feet away. People are moving around and there's a loud thud. Then another.  
The edges of Stiles' vision are going black and he isn't quite sure why.  
There's a hand on his shoulder and Stiles flinches back. He cries out as the motion jars his wound and pain lances up his leg.  
There's someone new leaning down in front of him. She looks to be a little older than Stiles, maybe nineteen or twenty years old. She's got long, black hair pulled up into a high ponytail.  
She looks worried.  
The last thing Stiles sees is her panicked look as everything goes dark. 

* * *

Stiles wake up in a bed. He's... Well, he's surprised to say the least. Stiles wasn't sure what he expected to find when (if) he woke up, but it certainly wasn't this.  
Stiles looks around. He's in a small, well lit bedroom. It's sparsely decorated, the walls are bare and the only furniture in the room is the bed Stiles is laying on, a simple wooden dresser, a tall bookshelf, and a small desk.  
Stiles swings his legs over the side of the bed. With a frown, he realizes his leg is healed. It's a little sore and there's a scar, but other than that he's fine.  
He gets up and pads to the door.  
Apparently he's in an apartment. The bedroom opens up to a short hallway that leads to the living room and connected kitchen. There's a bathroom to his right and a door Stiles thinks is another bedroom to his left.  
Though, as Stiles looks around a bit more, the living room is less of, well, a living room, and more like an improvised greenhouse. There are pots scattered around with thriving plants living inside them. Stiles recognizes wolfsbane in a couple of the pots by the window.  
The girl from before is in the kitchen, humming to herself as she makes something. Stiles walks out into the living room.  
"Oh! You're awake!" She smiles awkwardly at Stiles, "How's the leg? I'm not the best when it comes to healing..."  
"Uh... It's fine. A little sore, but yeah." Stiles answers hesitantly.  
"That's good. Um, I'm almost done making lunch if you're hungry... I wasn't sure when you were going to wake up so I made sure to make extra," She offers. "I'm Tsukiko, by the way."  
"Stiles," He answers carefully. He's not quite sure whether he can trust this girl or not. Eventually, Stiles just mentally shrugs; she saved him and he's curious as to what the heck is going on. "What, uh... What's going on? I mean, why are you helping me? Were you part of the coven? Like, I mean, are you a witch? Is that how you healed me?"  
"Okay, slow down there," Tsukiko gives Stiles a bemused smile as she makes the 'time out' sign, "Let's see... What's going on is that a hunter managed to stick you with a poisoned crossbow bolt and I brought you back here to heal you. I'm helping you because I'd like to think that's what a decent human being would do. I'm not a witch and therefore, not part of a coven. So, uh, that's not how I healed you. I did use magic to heal you though," Tsukiko counts off her fingers as she answers each question.  
"Wow... You... You actually managed to answer all that." Stiles grins sheepishly. "Not many people keep up with my rambling."  
"Well, it would be nice if you could keep it down to one or two questions at a time in the future," She shoots him a mischievous grin.  
"Sorry. Noted," He takes a seat at the small kitchen table with an apologetic nod. Tsukiko brings two plates of pasta to the table.  
"So, why were you at Estelle's place?" Tsukiko asks as they eat.  
"A friend of mine, Caleb, sent me here," Stiles starts.  
Tsukiko nods, "I know Caleb. He's a good man. One of the best witches this side of the country to,"  
"Oh. Well, he told me that Estelle's coven was willing to teach me magic... Guess that's not going to happen." Stiles sigh, pushing the food around on his plate.  
"Oh? You want to learn magic? Why, if I may ask?" Tsukiko leans forward with interest.  
"Well, my friend, Scott, got bitten by a wolf and, y'know, turned. Shit happened and now he's an Alpha. I want to learn magic so that I can hold my own and help him."  
Tsukiko nods with a thoughtful hum, "I see..." She studies Stiles carefully and he has to fight not to squirm under her scrutiny. "Well," Tsukiko starts slowly, "I wouldn't mind teaching you the basics if you want. As I'm sure you've seen, I have a spare room, and it'd be nice to have some company around here."  
"What?!" Stiles sits up in surprise, "You'd be willing to teach me?" Then his eyes narrow in suspicion, "Why?"  
Tsukiko's head tilts to the side in thought. "Well, a few reasons, I guess," She starts with a small shrug, "I mean, I certainly understand that once you're brought into the supernatural world, there really isn't any going back, whether you like it or not. You need a way to defend yourself and I don't see any reason I shouldn't give you one."  
"But why me? Why would you let a complete stranger into your home? And also, what's in it for you?" Stiles presses.  
"Well, why _not_ you?" Tsukiko shrugs, "And I trust Caleb's judgement. If he was willing to help you then so am I. As for what's in it for me?" Tsukiko pauses for a moment as she considers it. "Well, admittedly not that much. Like I said before, it'd be nice to have some company around here. And maybe even some help down the line once you start to advance in magic."  
Stiles can't sense any malice or deceit in her words. Perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to agree, but there's something in him that seems to just _know_ that this is a good idea. "Well, if you're offering I'm certainly not going to turn you down."  
"Well, I am offering, and I'd be happy to help. Besides, I've found that sometimes my magic picks up on things that I don't really notice, not consciously at least, and right now it's telling me that I should help you." She raises an eyebrow at him, "And I've got a feeling you know what I mean."  
Stiles thinks back to the feeling he had before he got to the witches' house. And right now he's got a good feeling that just says that this is the way to go.  
"Yeah, I guess I do know."  


The first order of business after lunch was to go drive out to get Stiles' jeep. In the meantime, Stiles decided to call his dad to let him know about the recent turn of events.  
"Why am I not surprised..." His dad groans, "Of course things would go wrong immediately."  
"Don't say that like it's my fault." Stiles scowls, sinking down into his seat.  
"Look, just... be careful. If that's even possible for you."  
"Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence," Stiles rolls his eyes with a fond grin on his face.  
"Keep me updated, Stiles."  
"Will-do Daddy-o!" With that, Stiles hangs up. Turning to Tsukiko, he asks, "So, I never asked; why were you at the witches' house?"  
"Well, I was there to deliver some herbs. Witches' magic tends to rely on potions and rituals and the like. I keep a lot of the rarer, supernatural herbs that are necessary for some of the more complex brews."  
Stiles hums in acknowledgment.  
"But, now that we're on the topic, I do have a couple of questions for you. First off, I already know you want to learn magic for more combative purposes,"  
Stiles nods, idly staring at the window as he listens to Tsukiko.  
"But would you rather concentrate on more offensive or defensive magic. I mean, either way I'll teach you a bit of both, but which one is your main goal?"  
Stiles thinks about it as he watches houses fly past him in the window.  
_Offensive or defensive... Both ways he'd be able to help protect his friends, but, really, his goal is to be able to keep up with the wolves, right? So clearly, offensive is the way to go_  
"I'm gonna have to go with offense there." Stiles nods decisively.  
"Cool, cool," Tsukiko is quiet for a moment as she thinks, "Okay, well, do you have any previous experience with magic? Not necessarily with casting it, just in general. This is kinda important, it can affect the way your magic reacts to outside sources of magic."  
"Really?" Stiles' heart sinks. _There's no way this is going to work out then._  
Tsukiko raises an eyebrow at Stiles but waits patiently for a response.  
It's a good couple of moments before Stiles manages to swallow the lump in his throat. "Uh, well, the first thing was that I managed to close a mountain ash circle even though I didn't have enough powder to begin with..."  
"M'kay, that's good."  
"Then there was... well... it's a bit of a long story, but basically, Scott's emissary used me, Scott, and his girlfriend Allison, as ritual sacrifices so that we could save our parents from a darach."  
"Oooookaaay..." Tsukiko replies hesitantly, eyes wide in... what? Shock? Surprise? Horror?  
Stiles wasn't sure.  
"And how did that turn out exactly?"  
Stiles bites his lip. "Well, it-uh... it ended up with me gettingpossessedbyanogitsune." The last part come out rushed, as if Stiles says it fast enough it won't matter.  
"Nogitsune... That's a type of kitsune, right?"  
"Yeah, the void type." Stiles shudders as he thinks of a classroom full of snow and demons.  
"Wow." That's all Tsukiko says. Stiles sighs in defeat.  
"Well, I guess you wouldn't want to train someone as messed up as me... You can just drop me off at my Jeep, I'll get out of your hair."  
"What? No, I just-" Tsukiko stumbles over her words a bit, "it's not a problem. I'm just... well, I'm trying to figure out a way to say 'that's good' without saying 'that's good'. Because it really sucks that you had to go through that. But it's certainly a good starting point."  
"Wait, what?" Stiles can't believe what he's hearing. "I'm not-I mean-All that doesn't mean, like, I dunno, I can only do like, dark magic or whatever?"  
"No, you're not limited to the darker sides of magic, even though those aren't _inherently_ bad. But that's a topic for another day. And, let me start off by saying that I am really not trying to make light of what you went through, but from a magic standpoint, that's really good. I mean, not the best, but it's certainly a better starting point than most."  
"I-I don't... What?" Stiles feels like a chunk of ice he never noticed in his stomach has just melted.  
"Well, pretty much anyone could pull that trick with the mountain ash powder if they were determined, and with a lot of training they'd be able to pull off more spells. But experiences with powerful magic, like possession, leave a mark on you."  
"But that isn't bad?" Stiles' head is practically spinning in confusion.  
"Well, I mean yeah, it doesn't necessarily leave a good mark on you," She holds up a hand to stop Stiles as he takes a breath to ask a question, "but that isn't a deal-breaker. The important part is that you have that mark. Think of it like swimming pools, alright?" Tsukiko glances over at Stiles to make sure he's following.  
He's not exactly sure if he is or not.  
"Anyone who wants to can get one of those kiddie pools and fill it with water, right? But what possession and, uh, ritual sacrifice if you manage to survive it apparently, did was essentially dig you your own, personal pool. Got it?"  
"I think?" Stiles isn't exactly sure where she's going with this but he's certainly listening.  
"So, right now you have a pool, right? And, sure, maybe it's a bit dirty and gross, or it's got some muddy rainwater pooled at the bottom, but you _have_ a pool. Now what we have to do is clean that pool and fill it up with nice, clean water."  
"And how hard is that going to be?" Stiles asks hesitantly. Knowing his luck, it'll take until he's in his seventies to get his 'pool' cleaned out.  
:On your own it would certainly take a long time; maybe years. It's hard to clean it out if all you have to work with is muddy water. But you're not on your own. Sure, it won't be the easiest thing, and it does depend on a butt-load of work, but it's far from impossible. The only issue is that we'd have to get your 'pool' cleaned out before you can really start to learn any magic."  
"So how long would that take?"  
"Well, like I said, it depends on how hard you work. And how quickly you pick this all up, but I doubt it'd take more than a month or two to get you started. And, that's a generous estimate."  
"Wait, really?!"  
"Yeah. Really," Tsukiko says with a smile as she pulls up next to his jeep.  


One quick drive is all it takes before the two are back in Tsukiko's apartment.  
"So, how's this going to work?" Stiles asks.  
"Well, take the rest of the day to get settled. Tomorrow we can start your training. I'll take you to my workshop. The basement is where we will be training for the most part. Sure, every once in a while we'll be doing stuff outside, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The basement of my workshop is outfitted for magic experimentation, which also makes it a great place to train a newbie in magic."  
"Ah." Stiles nods as he takes his bags to his room.  
"Okay, so there's going to be a few ground rules," Tsukiko says as he sets his bags down. "First off, absolutely no magic in the apartment. Outside of emergencies, of course. Secondly, no experimenting with magic without either running it by me or having me there to supervise. And third, you'll help me with my work. Or at least, you will once you start to learn the basics of charm-making and runes."  
"So, what exactly do you do for work?"  
"Well," Tsukiko leans up against his doorframe, "I take orders online and make charms and similar stuff and mail them out."  
"Huh... Cool. Hey, is there like, a magical equivalent to Amazon? Like, I mean, if someone wanted to sell a magical artifact or something online, how would they do that?"  
"Magical artifacts would hardly be the weirdest thing sold on Amazon." Tsukiko points out with a raised eyebrow.  
"Fair enough," Stiles admits with a shrug.  
"Well, I'll leave you to it then. If you need anything, let me know."  


_Well, for once things are going right in my life. How long is that going to last?_


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles groans as the alarm goes off on his phone. He buries his face in his pillows as he musters the willpower to get out of bed. Then it hits him.  
_I'm going to start learning magic today!_  
Excitement builds in Stiles' gut as he jumps out of bed.  
He gets dressed quickly and speeds through his morning routine. When he gets out to the kitchen there's eggs, toast, and bacon waiting for him.  
Tsukiko is moving around the living room tending to her plants. "Eat up. Then we'll head out. The workshop isn't too far away so we're walking."  
"Awesome," Stiles can't help but grin as he digs into his food. "So, anything I need to know before we get started?" Stiles manages to get his question out between bites.  
"Hmm. Not really. There isn't much instruction that I can give you here. Just, uh, well... I guess you probably shouldn't be wearing anything you don't want to get messed up in general for training. But that's kinda a given, I'd imagine."  
"Got it," Stiles smiles as he finishes up.  
"Jesus..." Tsukiko sighs, "you don't need to rush. I still need to finish up here," She motions to the plants.  
Stiles pouts "But..."  
"Just be patient. I'm almost done." Tsukiko cuts him off.  
"Dude..." Stiles groans. He taps his leg impatiently as he waits for Tsukiko to finish watering.  
"You know," Tsukiko shoots him a sly grin, "I'm tempted to go even slower now."  
"Don't. You. Dare." Stiles narrows his eyes.  
Tsukiko's grin only grows.  
"Fine, fine. I'm done, let's go." 

Stiles is practically bouncing with excitement as they walk down the sidewalk. He feels a bit like a little kid, honestly. Heck, he's practically skipping next to Tsukiko. They walk a couple blocks before they stop in front of a small building. As she unlocks the door, Tsukiko murmurs something under her breath.  
"What, do you have a magical security system or something?" Stiles is joking. Mostly.  
"Sort of." Tsukiko says, swinging the door open.  
"Holy..." Stiles stares wide eyed at the inside of the building. "I'm torn between making a Harry Potter or a Doctor Who joke." The interior of the building is much larger than it has any right to be. "This place is yours? Did you make it?" Stiles follows Tsukiko into the workshop.  
He stares in wonder as he takes everything in.  
It's oddly mundane, Stiles realizes. He was half expecting there to be, like, floating magical orbs or something. But it looks like a regular, albeit giant, workshop. There are tables scattered with tools and materials. One of the tables has a bunch of carved trinkets, another one has various paints and such.  
"Well, I helped my teacher make all this," She motions around them, "But, yeah... It's mine now."  
"Your teacher? Where is he? Or she?" Stiles turns to Tsukiko.  
"well, we live in the supernatural world and I hate hunters. I'm sure you can do the math." Tsukiko gives him a pained smile.  
"Oh. Sorry." Stiles winces internally.  
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." Tsukiko shrugs."But yeah, the basement's this way." They weave through the tables to a door in the far wall. Tsukiko leads Stiles down a stairwell into a smaller room. This room has a few tables, but is certainly emptier. However, the center of the room has a padded floor, almost like a dojo.  
"Wow. Nice." Stiles says with a whistle.  
"Thanks. Now, take off your shoes and sit down." She nods her head towards the center of the room.  
Nodding, Stiles toes off his shoes and sits cross-legged at the center of the padding. Tsukiko takes her shoes off too.  
"So, first things first, you need to learn how to _access_ your magic before you start to learn how to use it." Tsukiko points out. "This is the hardest part about starting cause it's sorta like trying to flex a muscle you don't know about."  
"Wonderful," Stiles groans, "that sounds _real_ easy."  
"Yeah, I know... There are a few tricks to it though," Tsukiko gives Stiles an amused smile. "So here's how this is going to work," She sits down on her knees in front of Stiles. "I'm going to push my magic into you so you know how it feels. That way you have a starting point to work off of." Tsukiko holds her hands out for Stiles to grab.  
"This won't hurt, right?" Stiles asks her hesitantly.  
"No. It might feel a bit weird considering your magic is tainted, but it won't hurt." Tsukiko promises.  
Nodding, Stiles places his hands in hers.  
"Alright, here we go." As she speaks, Stiles feels a warmth spreading down his arms from her hands. It's comforting, like sitting in front of a fireplace on a cold day. The sensation trickles up his arms to his shoulders. "Okay, you should be feeling my magic."  
"Yeah, definitely," Stiles nods. "It doesn't feel weird." He points out.  
"Good." Tsukiko says with a small smile, "But this is the part that might feel weird. I'm going to push a little bit of my magic into yours. I want you to focus on what your magic feels like because, after I do this, you're going to work on trying to access it yourself."  
"Okay. Got it. Focus on my magic." Stiles repeats with a nod. He closes his eyes as Tsukiko's magic starts to move again. The warmth spreads to his chest, swirling around for a moment before flowing down to his gut.  
Stiles gasps as a chill runs through his body. For a moment it feels like he's being dunked under the icy water in Deaton's office again. But after that initial shock the cold feeling dulls down to something more akin to a single ice cube shoved down his shirt, but in his stomach. Stiles focuses on the odd feeling stemming from his gut, trying to memorize it.  
Slowly, Stiles can feel Tsukiko's magic receding from him. With it, the icy sensation dies down. Stiles opens his eyes when everything has returned to normal.  
"Alright," Tsukiko stands back up, "So, you're going to sit there and figure out how to access your magic now that you know what it feels like. I'll be over there." Tsukiko motions off to the side at one of the tables.  
"Wait, that's it? How am I supposed to do that?" Stiles stares at her.  
"Look, if you're really having trouble with it I'll try to explain it, but it's like trying to explain what an apple tastes like without saying 'fruity' or 'sweet'. So try it on your own for a bit and we'll play it by ear."  
"Okay, alright... What are you doing?" Stiles cocks his head to the side in confusion as Tsukiko pulls out a notebook and a pen.  
"Well, hopefully I'll be making something that'll expedite cleaning up your magic." Tsukiko shrugs.  
"Hopefully?"  
"Yeah." She responds unhelpfully. "Now get to work. The faster you get this part down the sooner we can actually start tending to your magic."  
Nodding, Stiles closes his eyes again. He frowns, focusing on the cold sensation from before. And...  
All Stiles feels is stupid. He's just sitting there and nothing is happening. He gives an annoyed huff.  
"Dude, you've been at it for, like, ten seconds. If you're already getting frustrated, magic is not for you. Patience is more than just a virtue when it comes to this stuff." Tsukiko pipes in.  
"It would be easier if I knew what I was doing." Stiles scowls, squirming where he's seated.  
"Well, at least try for _more_ than a few seconds before giving up." Despite her words there's a sympathetic edge to Tsukiko's tone.  
"Yeah, yeah. Okay," Stiles sighs as he settles into where he's sitting. He closes his eyes again, trying to call up his magic. Stiles takes a deep breath. After a moment, he feels the slight tingle in his gut. But the moment he tries to focus on that it's gone.  
Stiles doesn't know how long he sits there, fishing for that sensation once more. But he can't find it again. Eventually, he throws his arms up in frustration and flops onto his back.  
"Lemme guess, you managed to barely find it, then lost it?" Tsukiko asks him.  
Stiles just groans, throwing an arm over his eyes.  
"Well at least you lasted way longer this time." She teases.  
"Can you at least give me a hint?" Stiles doesn't pout. He doesn't. At all. Really.  
"Hmmm," Stiles looks over to where Tsukiko is sitting, looking up from her notebook. "It might help if you try to visualize your magic as something."  
"Like what?" Stiles sits up, turning to look at her.  
She shrugs, "Whatever feels right, I guess. I remember my teacher always thought of his magic like a faucet."  
"And you?"  
"I've always felt like it's like one of those plasma globes. I've got a bit of a theory that your magic tends to prefer a certain element and the way you visualize it reflects the nature of your magic. I've never really been able to find any evidence to help prove it thoughtcrimes. I Suppose it's more of a hypothesis than a theory, now that I think of it." She waves her hand vaguely in the air.  
"So, what? If I Visualize my magic as a plasma dome I'll be better at electric spells or whatever?"  
"I think it's more if your magic prefers electricity it's easier to control it by visualizing it that way. Does that make sense?"  
"Yeah, I guess it does." Stiles nods. "So how do I know what to visualize my magic as?"  
"Just whatever feels right, I guess," Tsukiko responds with a shrug.  
"You're not really that good at explaining things, you know." Stiles grumbles.  
"I'll accept that criticism if you can explain to me how to bend your arm."  
"Come on! That's simple! Your muscles contract and pull your bones to make your arm move." Stiles rolls his eyes.  
"Yeah. _But_ how do you get your muscles to contract?" Tsukiko raises an eyebrow at him.  
"Well, your brain sends signals to your muscles via nerves...?" Stiles frowns, not liking where this is heading.  
"Yeah, that's how it works, but how do you get your brain to send the signals?"  
"It just does." Stiles' shoulders slump in defeat.  
"You're not really good at explaining things, you know." Tsukiko grins  
"Oh, shut up," Stiles huffs, settling back down to try his magic again. He tunes out Tsukiko's chuckles as he closes his eyes. Stiles takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his magic once more. He thinks about the chill of his own magic, as well as the warmth of Tsukiko's and the image of a flickering candle comes to mind.  
He focuses on the flame, imagining it growing, and suddenly, his magic flares up.  
Stiles' eyes shoot open and he flails as the cold sensation rushes through him. It feels too much like when the nogitsune was controlling him; the every-present chill that Stiles could never get rid of after the sacrifice they made for their parents.  
"I'm guessing you figured it out." Stiles can see Tsukiko pursing her lips, trying to hold in laughter. Then sheathes in his expression and immediately her expression sobers. "What's up?" She asks gently.  
"It just feels... wrong. Like, I pictured a candle, right? But when I tried to make the flame bigger, everything was just cold." He mumbles.  
"Hey, don't worry about that, okay? As soon as you can reliably call up and control your magic we can get started on cleaning it up, alright?"  
Stiles nods in response, closing his eyes again and picturing a candle once more.  
This time he focuses on slowly making the fire bigger and that helps a little, making the cold grow gradually, rather than all at once. Stiles still feels a shiver crawl up his back, but at least this time he's prepared and can keep his focus.  
Stiles forces himself to keep going until the flame looks more like a campfire. He can feel himself shivering from the cold inside him, but he forces himself to ignore it as he imagines the flame dying down until it's a candle again.  
He does this a couple more times until he can't stomach the sensation any more.  
He blows the candle out and the sensation in his gut dies down completely.  
However, he's not sure if it's just the after effects, or if there's magic lingering in him, or whatever, but he's still chilled to his bones.  
Stiles opens his eyes and turns to Tsukiko. She's still working on whatever she's doing in her notebook, but Stiles is surprised to see a bunch of books piled around her.  
Tsukiko looks over as Stiles stands up, rubbing his arms and trying to get warm.  
With a shock, Stiles notices that her breath is fogging the air. Not to mention that, at some point, she pulled on a jacket. Stiles is a bit disconcerted that he hadn't noticed her moving at all while he was getting the hang of his magic.  
"Did I..." Stiles motions around them only to see that there is a small layer of frost where he was sitting. he pointedly does not think about the freezing basement _(or was it a den?)_ that he had been stuck in with the nogitsune.  
"Yeah," Tsukiko replies with a grin, "you did."  
"Sorry..." Stiles rubs his neck.  
"No worries. The first time I tried to access my magic I cause a blackout around the neighborhood." She chuckles a bit. Tsukiko frowns as he shivers, though.  
"What, is that a bad thing?" Stiles starts to worry.  
"Well, I mean, it's cold because your magic, which I'm guessing prefers fire, is tainted, but that was to be expected. You, however, shouldn't be affected by it because it's _your_ magic." Tsukiko reaches out and puts a gentle hand on his arm. "Ooookay... Well, I mean, you're still warm..." She rubs her chin thoughtfully.  
"I certainly don't feel warm." Stiles grumbles.  
"Well, it's about time for lunch, so why don't we go out and eat? Hopefully you'll warm up while we're outside..." Tsukiko suggests.  
Stiles' stomach growls before he has the chance to respond.  
"I'm going to take that as a yes," She gives Stiles a playful push towards the stairs, "It'll give this place a chance to warm up too." 

After a short walk they're t a small sandwich place and the two of them are sitting outside in the sun, eating. Across from him, Tsukiko is clearly deep in thought as she eats. Meanwhile, Stiles is trying desperately to _not_ think because, even though he can feel the warmth of the sun, he's somehow still cold. Stiles really doesn't want to think about why that is.  
So the two of them eat in silence.  
They're almost done with their meal when Tsukiko finally speaks up. "How're you feeling?"  
"I'm... still cold." Stiles admits hesitantly. He's not sure what to make of all this. "Even though I can definitely feel how warm the day is."  
"Well, let's head back to the workshop and see what we can do about that." She says cheerfully. 

When they get to the workshop Tsukiko immediately heads to the basement with Stiles in tow.  
"So, clearly your chill is a result of your magic," Tsukiko motions for Stiles to sit down, this time at the table that Tsukiko was working at earlier, "I'm guessing it's a result of being possessed. The magic that was left behind from the Nogitsune probably just doesn't want to die down again."  
"So, what? I'm just going to be cold until we get all of it out?" Stiles frowns as he sits down.  
"Well, I have a few solutions we can try." Tsukiko sits down across from Stiles. "As a short term solution, I can probably use my magic to push that magic back. That should get rid of the chill. At least until you use your magic again."  
"Getting rid of the chill would be nice," Stiles nods.  
Like before, Tsukiko holds out her hands for Stiles to grab. "Now, I'm going to be using a bit more magic for this, so you might feel a bit of a shock," she pauses, biting her lip, "especially since my focus will be on finding the nogitsune's magic, rather than keeping my own in check."  
"So this might hurt?" Stiles asks, bracing himself.  
"Well, I mean, as most it should feel like a static shock. I'm just keeping you in the loop."  
Stiles gasps as Tsukiko's magic rushes up his arms. It's warmer than before and, this time, there's an underlying current of power beneath it. It's less of a shock and more like a forceful thrum of pure energy. Nonetheless, it's from painful.  
In front of him, Tsukiko closes her eyes in concentration. Her magic surges on past his arms to fill his chest. Stiles can feel the warmth practically corralling the colder magic as it runs though him. Soon, Tsukiko's magic is everywhere in him, warm and comforting and chasing away the chill. Stiles can honestly say it's the most relaxed he's felt these past two years. Her magic feels strong, safe. It's nice.  
Tsukiko gently pulls her magic back once the chill is completely gone, and Stiles tries not to be disappointed.  
"Better?" She asks.  
"Much," He grins at her. "Thanks."  
Tsukiko signs in relief. "No," She waves him off, "I should be apologizing. I should've figured that something like that would happen. I doubt any of that brought back good memories." Tsukiko shifts uncomfortably in her seat, looking down at her feet.  
“Well, how about this: you can make it up to me by teaching me magic,” Stiles tried playfully   
"Heh, fair enough," She chuckles. "Now, more long-term solutions: first off, there's cleaning out your magic pool. The issue there is that, now that I've got a feel for what we're dealing with, it's probably going to take quite a bit longer than I originally anticipated."  
Stiles' heart sinks at the words. Seems like his lunch hasn't changed.  
"So, I was thinking of something else," Tsukiko pushes her notebook towards Stiles.  
Scribbled out on the page is a strange, circular design. Intricate symbols weave together to create an amazing design.  
"So, how do you feel about tattoos?"  
Stiles splutters, "I-You want me-I mean-this..."  
"Is that a no?" Tsukiko looks rather confused.  
Stiles doesn't blame her, even _he_ isn't sure what he just said.  
"I-I mean... I'm not the biggest fan of needles." Stiles admits.  
"That's fine," Tsukiko reassures him, "when it comes to runes there's more ways to apply tattoos."  
"Oh. That's fine, I guess," Stiles gives her a small shrug. "I mean, I doubt my dad will like it, but if it'll help with my magic then great."  
Tsukiko chuckles, "Cool. That makes things a lot easier."  
"Sooooo," Stiles gestures at the pattern in the notebook, "are you going to tell me what this is?"  
"It's a rune," Tsukiko informs him, "It'll let you train _while_ we clean up your magic."  
"Hold up," Stiles makes the 'time out' sign, "What happened to 'I have to clean my magic before training?"  
"Well, it's just that the leftover magic from the nogitsune is... well it's potent to say the least. It'll be much easier to purge it over time, little by little. Especially once you get the hand of using magic." She explains, "The issue there is that if you're training with the nogitsune's magic, your pool is going to fill up with that."  
"Okay. Really don't want that." Stiles frowns, trying to figure out where this is going.  
"Exactly," Tsukiko nods, "This," She motions to the rune, "will essentially put a cap on your magic. For now, at least. So we can train without worrying about increasing the amount of magic we'd have to clean."  
"So... what? We're just going to keep pressing 'B' on my pokemon evolution?"  
"Uh... Kind of, I guess," Tsukiko scratches her head, "I mean, it's more like preventing you from leveling up completely. You won't be able to increase how much magic you have available to you with this; your stats just won't go up."  
"Like, ever? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's better than nothing. If you think that's the best option, I trust you," Stiles is a little surprised at those words. He's not one to trust easily, he never had that luxury since Scott was always willing to trust _everyone_. And yet, it hasn't even been a full day and he trusts Tsukiko.  
"That's the best part! Once I complete it, the rune will only work with the nogitsune's magic. So, once all of it is gone, the rune won't restrict your magic anymore." Tsukiko gives Stiles a large grin, "Then you can work on building up your magic reserves! And, as a nifty little side effect, the rune will actually make concealing your magic easier."  
"Well, that certainly sounds like a good plan," Stiles nods eagerly. "So, how's this going to work?"  
"Well, I still need to work on it a bit more. I should be able to be done with it by tomorrow, so long as I have your help." Tsukiko starts collecting up all the books scattered on the table.  
"Of course! Just tell me what to do." Excitement bubbles up in Stiles. Maybe his luck _is_ changing.  
"You won't need to do much," Tsukiko talks as she returns the books to a large cabinet in the corner of the room, "basically I'm going to lay down a larger test version of the rune on the floor." She trades the books for a jar of ink and a thick brush. "All you need to do is stand in the center and summon your magic. You'll need to push your magic into the ink on the floor around you. I'll watch and see how it reacts and make changes as necessary. Then we'll keep doing that until I'm satisfied with how the rune is working."  
"How do I push my magic into the ink, exactly?" Stiles watches as Tsukiko starts painting out the intricate design onto the mat.  
"It shouldn't be too hard for you. I mean, you picked up summoning your magic really quickly."  
"I did?!" Stiles is shocked.  
"Yeah. It usually takes people a couple days, at best, to figure it out. You're a quick study."  
Stiles beams at Tsukiko's words.  
"It'll be easiest if you physically touch part of the ink, then push your magic out your hands. Like summoning your magic, this will take a bit of trial and error on your part. Because, apparently, I'm not very good at explaining things." Tsukiko glares playfully at Stiles.  
"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Stiles sighs, face flushing with embarrassment.  
"Nope." Tsukiko pops the 'p'. "Never." 

Stiles finds himself chatting with Tsukiko as she draws out the rune, trying to get to know her a little better. Just things like what her favorite food is (udon), her favorite color (cyan), favorite type of supernatural creature (apparently phoenixes are a thing), and the like. In return, Tsukiko asks him about his pack and actually _listens_ as he rambles on about some of the trouble he and Scott have gotten into over the years (she actually has to stop for a bit when Stiles talks about the time he got his head stuck in a bannister as a kid because she's laughing too hard). All-in-all, it reminds Stiles of hanging out with Scott before their life was hijacked by the supernatural.  
He tries not to think about how readily Scott left him behind.  
_He can't help but wonder if he's just setting himself up to get burned again._  
Stiles is pulled from his thoughts as Tsukiko stands up straight, stretching her arms out above her head with a groan.  
"Alright, go ahead and stand in the middle. Mind the wet ink over here." Tsukiko points out the area she was working on that hasn't had a chance to dry yet.  
"Gotcha," Stiles nods, circling around the wet ink as he walks to the center of the rune.  
"Actually, you might want to sit down. You know, since you'll want to put your hands onto the rune." Tsukiko amends. "Now, focus on summoning your magic, alright?"  
Stiles hums in acknowledgment, closing his eyes and doing as he's told. He grits his teeth as ice water seems to flood his veins.  
"Great!"  
Stiles can practically hear the smile in her voice. Pride bubbles up in him at it.  
"Now I want you to try to push your magic out your hands. Then the ink will absorb it."  
Stiles tries. He focuses on his magic, on the freezing fire burning in his gut. At first he just tries to shove his magic out his hands but it feels more like trying to push smoke around. The more aggressively he tries to push at his magic, the more it disperses away from his hands. Sure, occasionally a little bit of magic leaves through his hands, but it's barely a few wisps.  
Frowning, Stiles takes a deep breath before just looking at his magic; studying it and trying to figure out how it works. He doesn't see much at first but, as his magic settles from his previous attempts at pushing it out, he starts to notice something. While his magic is centered in his gut, it is flowing all throughout his body; he can feel the chill of his magic from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. The magic is swirling around in his body reminiscent to fit away smoke curls away from a fire.  
Stiles tries again, this time rather than forcibly trying to move his magic, he tries to funnel it towards his hands, nudging his magic to redirect it and letting the magic flow on its own.  
Stiles' fingers start to numb as the cold starts to gather in his hands and he tries his best to ignore the way he's shivering. Now he's got the magic in his hands, but he needs to figure out how to let it out. None of his gentle nudges manage to push the magic out, just around.  
As the magic builds in his hands, Stiles shrugs mentally. Might as well try forcing it out, right? He knows how to get his magic where wants to now. Kind of, at least. So that's what he does, he pushes at his magic.  
To his surprise it works. Mostly. A bit of it is just pushed back up his arms, but most of the magic flows out and into the ink. He sits in awe as he feels his magic rushing to fill the ink.  
Opening his eyes, Stiles is shocked to see the lines around him glowing faintly.  
Tsukiko has a giant grin on her face.  
"Great job. I knew you'd figure it out quickly,"  
Stiles isn't used to hearing _pride_ when someone talks about him and it catches him off guard.  
"Go take a break, you've been at it for a while. Gimme a minute and, if you want, I can warm you up again."  
Stiles nods mutely, blowing warm air over his hands even though he knows it won't do anything.  
With his hands so numb he can almost imagine that he's holding a katana...  
"Hey, you good?" Tsukiko's worried voice yanks him from the thought.  
"Yeah, awesome." Stiles tries to grin. "Just cold."  
Tsukiko frowns, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she says, holding her hands out to Stiles, "but I'll listen if you need to talk."  
Stiles stares wide-eyed at Tsukiko as a lump forms in his throat.  
_'How is it,'_ Stiles asks himself, _'that someone who has only known me for two days can read me better than any of my friends?'_  
He doesn't think about how the only alternative is that Scott and everyone saw and knew and just didn't _care_  
Blinking tears from his eyes, Stiles gives Tsukiko a shaky nod as he grabs her hands. She gives his hands a reassuring squeeze as warmth floods through his body.  
Stiles has to choke back a sob as Tsukiko's magic swirls through him, swiftly replacing the cold and distancing him from the memories. He focuses on the buzz of power that curls almost protectively around him as Tsukiko works. It's such a contrast to everything he's dealt with these past couple years; it's warm and reassuring where the nogitsune was freezing and controlling, focused whereas Scott was uncaring, protective where the pack was negligent, and safe unlike anything he's ever felt in Beacon Hills since his mom died.  
All too soon, Tsukiko's magic is retreating, having finished rounding up the cold. Without thinking, Stiles tightens his grip on Tsukiko's hands, as if that would prevent her from drawing her magic back. Yet, he notices that Tsukiko slows down.  
She gives Stiles' hands a reassuring squeeze and a tendril of her magic seems to separate and curl tentatively in his chest, as if asking for permission to stay.  
Tsukiko's magic lingers for a moment longer before withdrawing completely, save that small piece.  
Stiles lets it sink down and settle near his hear. As it does that, it thrums and Stiles gets the sense of confusion and concern before it fades to a small hum, almost unnoticeable, yet unmistakable all at the same time. 

They sit in silence for a while before Stiles gets up, walking back to the center of the rune.  
"What..." Tsukiko gives him a bewildered look, "You don't have to... I mean, we can call it a day. If this is bringing up bad memories..."  
"It's not... It brings up bad memories, but that- that isn't the issue." _It's the fact that someone who barely knows me seems to care more than my best friend ever did_ Stiles can't bring himself to say that, so silence hangs in the air for a moment.  
Tsukiko stares into his eyes for a while before heaving a sigh. Stiles is thankful that, even though she clearly wants him to elaborate, she doesn't question him about it. "If you're sure..."  
"I am. The sooner we get this over with, the better. We'll be that much closer to getting rid of the nogitsune's magic altogether, right?"  
"Right," She huffs, "Just... just don't push yourself too hard, okay? If you need a break, take one. If you need to stop, stop. _Please?_ "  
It's odd to hear someone other than his father so concerned for him.  
"Okay," He answers sincerely.  
"Well... whenever you're ready." Tsukiko crosses her arms over her chest.  
Stiles sits down and summons his magic once more. It's even easier, this time, to guide his magic to his hands. He doesn't let if pool up quite as much as last time before he pushes it out into the ink. When Stiles opens his eyes again, the rune is glowing; brighter this time, but flickering.  
Tsukiko hums thoughtfully as the glow fades completely before moving around to adjust the rune.  
Stiles shivers a bit but stays in the rune. When Tsukiko sees this she gives an exasperated sigh. He can't help but chuckle at her reaction. "You're determined, I'll give you that,"  
"I just want to get this over with, ya know?" Stiles shrugs. The magic in his chest thrums with worry.  
Alright." Tsukiko says, moving out of the rune once more, nodding at Stiles to continue.  
Stiles stifles a gasp as the icy rushes through him with a new intensity as he summons up his magic once more. Despite the intensity, or maybe because of it, it's harder to direct his magic to his hands this time. It's like, even though the fire is burning brighter, there's less 'smoke' for him to channel. He's trembling again by the time he feels he's got enough magic in his hands to push out. The rush of magic that exits Stiles steals his breath and leaves him light headed.  
He can feel Tsukiko's calculating gaze as he carefully stands on shaky legs. Stiles bites his lip as the world seems to spin around him momentarily as he slowly makes his way over to the table.  
Stiles is vaguely aware of Tsukiko moving around the rune, changing it, but he's focusing on trying to ignore the cold and get his hands to stop shaking.  
"I think I'm done," Stiles mumbles as Tsukiko moves in front of him.  
"You _think_ , huh?" He doesn't have to look up to know that Tsukiko is rolling her eyes.  
"Shut up," He scowls, but he can't help the small grin at Tsukiko's laugh.  
Once again, Tsukiko holds out her hands for Stiles. Gratefully, he takes them. The magic in his chest flares up as Tsukiko's magic surges down his arms. He relaxes into the warmth of Tsukiko's magic as it rushes through him. 


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles all but collapses into bed. He’s completely exhausted, but in a good way. It’s been a while since he’s been tired out from anything other than running for his life or sleepless nights trying to stay one step ahead of the creature of the week.  
Like a lot of things these past couple days, it’s nice.  
Which makes him uneasy. Things never go well for him. At least, not for long.  
Something _always_ goes wrong.  
Suffice it to say, there’s more than one reason Stiles is anxious to start learning magic.  
That being said, he should probably be getting a good night’s rest for tomorrow.  
But he. Can’t. Stop. **_Thinking.  
_** _‘We can’t afford to have someone so weak.’_ Stiles can’t get the words out of his head. Scott, the person he’d considered his brother for years, couldn’t ‘ ** _afford_** ’ to have him around. And, sure, Stiles isn’t as strong as a wolf, but he likes to think he’s handled himself pretty well when faced with supernatural threats.  
He can’t believe how easily he’d been discarded.

Stiles’ alarm blares to life. He rolls out of bed, quickly getting ready for the day.  
Once again, when he leaves his room, there’s breakfast waiting for him.  
“You don’t have to make me breakfast, you know,” Stiles informs Tsukiko before he digs in.  
She shrugs in response, “Well, I’m already making it for myself, so I figure I might as well. Don’t worry about it.”  
“But, I mean, you’re already letting me stay here and helping me with my magic,” Stiles huffs. “And, I can cook, so…” He makes a frustrated gesture with his hands.  
“Well, trust me, once we get to the meat of your training you won’t want to work on an empty stomach. And, really, it’s no issue.” Tsukiko waves him off.  
“But…” Stiles flounders, “I mean… I just don’t like not being able to, you know, repay you.” He grumbles.  
“Well, if it really bothers you that much, you’ll be repaying me _and then some_ if you help me out with making charms and runes. And that would be on top of getting paid if you end up wanting to work with me after I’ve taught you the basics.” Tsukiko tells him.  
“Okay…” Stiles doesn’t really like that that’s all she’s letting him do, but there’s not much he can do about it, “thanks.”

* * *

Once again, Tsukiko leads Stiles down to the basement of the workshop.  
“Well, you know what to do.” Tsukiko motions to the center of the rune.  
“Yup, got it.” Stiles makes his way to the middle of the room. “Same as yesterday?”  
“Yeah. Now, go ahead and channel your magic into the ink,” Tsukiko says, grabbing the ink and brush.  
Stiles suppresses a shiver as his magic flares to life. Like yesterday, Stiles guides his magic into his hands before pushing it out into the ink. This time though, he watches as the rune starts to flow brightly for a moment before fading.  
Tsukiko is quick to start moving around, adding marks to the whole array.  
After that it’s rinse-and-repeat; Stiles pours his magic into the rune and Tsukiko makes some changes.

“Well, that should do it.” Tsukiko tells Stiles as she finishes warming him up.  
“Cool,” Stiles nods his thanks, “So, what now?”  
“ _Now_ , we just need to apply it.” Tsukiko grins, “But first,” Tsukiko’s eyes flash silver as she holds out her hand above the lines on the ground. The lines flare up with the same light before disappearing into smoke.  
Stiles stares in awe.  
“Neat trick.” He finally says.  
“It’s certainly handy to know how to do that when you specialize in runes.” She shrugs. “Now, this is going to go on the center of your back so I need you to take your shirt off.”  
“Wow, so forward,” Stiles wiggles his eyebrows at Tsukiko.  
Tsukiko rolls her eyes, but Stiles can see the corners of her mouth twitching up in amusement.  
“Now, go ahead and sit in the middle of the mat,” Tsukiko instructs him once he’s removed his shirt.  
“Alright, alright.” As Stiles moves to seat himself Tsukiko grabs a different pot of ink and a much thinner brush.  
“Now,”  
Stiles forces himself not to fidget as the brush tickles his back.  
“The actual rune will be about three inches wide,” Tsukiko tells him, “But in order to make it permanent I’m going to have to draw out a lot more than what it will end up being.”  
Stiles nods gratefully, “Okay.  
Tsukiko works in silence, drawing something gout onto Stiles’ back. When Tsukiko is done drawing out the rune it stretches all the way down his back and it curls over his shoulders just a bit.  
“Alright, that should do it,” Tsukiko stands up, “Now all there is to do is activate it. It, uh, might burn a little bit. And by a little bit, I mean a lot.” She shrugs apologetically.  
“Alright, got it. No point in putting it off. Let’s do this,” Stiles nods, gritting his teeth.  
“Okay.” Tsukiko puts a hand in the center of the rune and Stiles tenses in anticipation.  
It starts small, there’s a barely noticeable warmth under Tsukiko’s palm. It grows steadily, spreading across Stiles’ back as the heat intensifies.  
He can feel the magic, he realizes. He can the heat crawling across the lines that Tsukiko drew.  
 _This isn’t so bad…_ Stiles finds himself thinking.  
Famous last words.  
Stiles chokes on a gasp as it feels like the rune is being seared across his skin.  
“Just a little bit more,” Tsukiko reassures him.  
All Stiles can do is grit his teeth and nod in response.  
Suddenly, the lines of searing heat start to dig into his body. He can feel the lines of heat on the surface of his back shrinking while tendrils of burning magic dig inside him, winding through his body.  
Finally, the tendrils come to a stop and the searing pain dies down to a manageable stinging sensation.  
Stiles let’s out a shaky breath. He realizes he’s drenched in sweat and he’s gasping like he just ran a marathon.  
“How’re you holding up?” Tsukiko asks gently.  
“Fuck…” Stiles groans, letting himself fall backwards to lay on the padded floor with his eyes closed.  
“I see…” Tsukiko says as she sits down beside him.  
“I’m sure there’s still some lingering effects so, if you want, I’ve got some blankets if you wanna sleep the rest of it off here.”  
“Hmm,” Stiles nods. _Sleep. That sounds nice.  
_ Tsukiko laughs, “Alright then.”  
It takes a moment for Stiles to realize that he said that last bit out loud too. Whatever, he’s too tired to care.  
A moment later, a soft pillow is being put under his head and a warm blanket is draped over him.

Stiles wakes up surprisingly refreshed. He stretches a bit before looking around.  
“Have a nice _nap?_ ” Tsukiko smiles.  
“Yeah, thanks.” Stiles nods. “What time is it?”  
“Eleven.” Tsukiko responds.  
“Wow, it’s not even midnight?” Stiles chuckles.  
“A.M.” Tsukiko grins.  
“Oh,” Stiles’ eyebrows shoot up, “whoops?”  
She waves him off, “Don’t worry about it.”  
“So does that mean I can start learning magic now?” There’s no way Stiles would be able to stop the smile on his face even if he tried.  
“Sure. Lesson one: never train on an empty stomach,” Tsukiko raises an eyebrow.  
Almost as if on cue, Stiles’ stomach grumbles.  
He chuckles, rubbing the back of his head, “Right. Lunch.”

* * *

Alright, so how much do you know about magic already?” Tsukiko asks.  
“Pretty much nothing…” Stiles admits, rubbing the back of his neck.Tsukiko shrugs, “Just thought I’d ask. Alright, magic 101.” She rubs her hands together with a grin. “Magic is, at its core, the energy that keeps us alive. Every living creature, whether they’re human or supernatural, has some sort of magic.”  
“So werewolves have magic?” Why don’t they just, like, lob fireballs at people rather than use their claws?”  
“Well, first off: having magic and using magic are two different things. Everyone has magic but very few can use it.” Tsukiko pauses a moment before continuing with a sly grin, “And even fewer can use it well.”  
That gets an amusement out of Stiles.  
“But when it comes to supernatural creatures… Hmm, how do I put this?” Tsukiko rubs her chin in thought, “Everything in magic is about balance. Supernatural creatures being, you know, supernatural, have magic that is far more potent than the average human. However, that magic is limited in the ways it can be used. Werewolves, for example, can only really use magic to enhance their abilities. You know, better hearing and vision, regenerative abilities, etc.”  
“Huh, I never thought about that, but yeah, it makes sense that all of that is magic.” Stiles admits.  
“But I digress. Magic is the energy that keeps us alive, therefore if you use your reserves up—”  
“Let me guess. You die.” Stiles finishes.  
“Gee, how’d you figure that out?” She teases playfully, “Anyway, as humans we _can_ use magic to _temporarily_ boost our bodies. But it takes a sizeable amount of magic to do and generally you’re not going to be able to boost yourself to the point that, say, werewolves or vampires are at naturally.”  
“Makes sense, I guess.” Stiles shrugs.  
“Yeah. So, that being said, when using magic in combat, typically you’re going to be relying on physically manifesting your magic.”  
“When you say manifesting magic…” Stiles gives Tsukiko a confused look.  
“I mean pushing your magic outside of your body and focusing it so that it can interact with the world.”  
“So, like, spells and stuff?”  
Tsukiko scrunches up her face at that, “I guess. Personally, I don’t use the word ‘spell’ to describe any of the ways I use magic. But that’s because that word has so many different definitions and connotations and I prefer being a bit more… precise.” She frowns in thought.  
“So, do people who actually use magic not like that word?” Stiles cocks his head to the side in thought.  
“Eh…” Tsukiko rubs the back of her neck, “Magic is complicated—”  
“No shit,” Stiles raises an eyebrow.  
She rolls her eyes before continuing, “It’s complicated and, thanks to the fact that in the past bot humans _and_ supernatural creatures have targeted magic users, magic users tend to be secretive and unwilling to share techniques.”  
“Understandable,” Stiles admits with a shrug.  
“But that means the way magic is taught and used will vary greatly depending on who you learn from. Both in vocabulary and theory.”  
“Oh.”  
“Anyway, another way we can use magic is creating charms or runes,” She holds up a hand as Stiles takes a breath to ask something, “Charms are items, usually small ones, that are imbued with magic in order to serve a purpose like creating emergency shields or storing healing magic. While charms do exist on their own, they are often augmented with runes. What I put on your back is a rune, words and symbols arranged in specific ways and drawn out with magic-conducting materials. Does that answer your question?”  
“Yeah…” Stiles answer meekly  
“Now, I know you want to focus on combative magic, but that’ll be a little ways off,” Tsukiko tells him, “Runes, in my opinion, are a better starting point in order to teach you how to control your magic.”  
“Because it’s easier?” Stiles tilts his head curiously.  
“Tsukiko gives him a wolfish grin, “Because it’s harder.”

* * *

Stiles bites his lip as he copies the symbol Tsukiko’s drawn out for him once more. He has to figure out how to push a steady stream of magic out while he’s drawing.  
It’s giving him a headache.  
Not only does he have to focus on keeping the fire in his gut at a consistent size, but he also has to direct the ‘smoke’ towards his hands and constantly push it out.  
Stiles jerks his arm back as the small piece of paper burst into flame.  
“I don’t think I need to tell you, but that was too much magic.”  
Stiles scowls at the ashes of the paper. _No kidding.  
_ And then he gets an idea.  
Closing his eyes, Stiles focuses on his magic, letting it flare up in his gut. He lets the magic build up for a moment. Once he thinks he has enough he lets the flame die back down and focuses on drawing out the rune again. IT’s easier to keep the stream of magic steady when he doesn’t have to focus on controlling the flow of magic through him, just out of him.  
He draws the rune out, admittedly it’s a lot sloppier than Tsukiko’s example, and he feels a burst of pride and accomplishment as he finishes the rune and it glows steadily.  
Stiles grins up at Tsukiko.  
She raises an eyebrow at him, “Nice try,” Tsukiko sighs, “but no short cuts.”  
“You’re kidding me!” Stiles pouts.  
“That would be fine if you were learning runes just for the sake of learning runes,” Tsukiko admits, “but remember, you’re doing this to help you get finer control over your magic.”  
“This is stupid…” Stiles grumbles, throwing the pen down onto the table as he rubs his temples.  
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to learn magic,” He doesn’t’ need to look up to know that she’s grinning.  
“Hmph!” Stiles crosses his arms over his chest. HE ignores the giggle that it causes.  
With a deep breath, Stiles picks up the pen once more.  
He’s startled as a hand is laid on his shoulder, “In all seriousness, though,” Tsukiko tells him, “You’re doing great. I know you’re frustrated, but you’re already progressing a lot quicker than most would.”  
That certainly comes as a surprise to Stiles. It certainly doesn’t _feel_ like he’s progressing quickly.  
Still, Stiles focuses once more on regulating his magic and directing it out into the ink.He finishes the rune without setting fire to the slip of paper, but it only glows for a short moment before winking out.  
 _Not enough magic.  
_ Stiles has to bite back a growl of frustration.  
“Relax,” Tsukiko, says in a soft voice, “Take your time. Usually it takes people weeks just to learn to channel their magic.”  
“Oh?” Stiles raises an eyebrow. “How long did it take _you_ to learn it? Am I progressing faster than you?”  
She heaves an exasperated sigh as she rolls her eyes, “I think it took me just under two months to figure out how to channel my magic well enough to really start learning it.”  
Stiles’ grin widens.  
“Tch,” Tsukiko crosses her arms when she sees that, “You much be _so_ proud of progressing faster than a _seven_ -year-old.  
“You started learning when you were _seven?_ ” Stiles gasps. “When did you find out about the supernatural?!”  
“Me? Oh, I’ve known my whole life. My mom was a werewolf.”  
“Wait, what?! Are you a wolf too? I though you said werewolves can’t use magic.”  
“I’m not a wolf. And wolves can’t use magic to the _extent_ that we can.”  
“Wolves can have human kids? Is it genetic? Like, is your dad human? And are wolves more likely to have a werewolf kid if they’re both wolves? What about other were-creatures?”  
“Hey, what happened to ‘try to keep it down to one or two question at a time’?” Tsukiko teases. “But, uh,” she scratches her head for a moment as she thinks, “werewolves can have human kids, clearly,” She motions at herself with her hands, “As far as I can tell it’s not genetic, but I haven’t exactly put much research into that. But my dad was human. I don’t think it matters whether one or both parents are wolves but, again, haven’t looked into it a whole lot. As for other creatures, I’m not really sure.”  
“Uh, yeah… sorry.” Stiles scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, “When I get excited or intrigued everything just, sorta, rushes out.” He grins sheepishly.  
She waves him off, “Don’t worry about it. My brother was the same way so I’m pretty used to it. Anyway,” Tsukiko rubs her chin, “back to the rune…”  
Stiles scowls. “I’ve been at this for hours and it doesn’t feel like I’m any closer to figuring it out. Sorry…” He hates to admit it, to give Tsukiko a reason to rethink teaching him magic.  
Tsukiko gives him an incredulous stare, “Dude…” She pinches the bridge of her nose.  
“I’m sorry, really, I’ll do—” His hasty reply is cut off.  
“Stop,” Tsukiko puts a hand up and Stiles’ heart sinks. Massaging her temples, she continues, “What the hell are you apologizing for?”  
 _What?  
_ “I—for not…” he makes a helpless gesture.  
“This isn’t exactly something you can learn in one day. Look,” Tsukiko puts a gentle hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “I’m not going to stop teaching you just because you’re having a bit of difficulty learning something. Besides,” She leans back, “you’re taking to magic like a duck to water.”  
“I am?”  
“Yeah. You are,” Tsukiko gives him a bemused smile, “did you miss the part where I said it generally takes people weeks to learn to summon their magic?”  
Stiles shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck, “I dunno… I kinda thought you were just saying that…”  
Stiles can’t decipher the look that flashes across her face before it settles into an exasperated smile.  
“Just keep trying. Runes are difficult. Most magic users don’t even learn them because it requires near perfect control over you magic to do anything more complicated than the basic runes.” Tsukiko explains, “There are easier things that I could have you starting off with but, at least in my experience, the difference between a good magic user and a great one is the degree of control they have over their magic. In the long run, getting this down first will make learning magic a hell of a lot easier.”  
Stiles takes a deep breath to settle himself before he nods in acknowledgement.  
“Besides,” Tsukiko continues almost absentmindedly, “it’ll take you more than a week to figure that rune out.”  
 _Oh really? We’ll see about that._ Stiles jaw sets in determination as he thinks it almost instinctively. He turns his attention back to the rune in front of him.  
He’s so focused on his work that he doesn’t see the grin on Tsukiko’s face.

It’s almost midnight when Tsukiko practically drags Stiles back to the apartment telling him: “I know you’re determined but things can get messy if someone inexperienced with magic is using it when they’re so tired they can’t think straight. Forgive me for not wanting to have a deal with that.”  
Nonetheless, Stiles is asleep almost before his head hits the pillow once they get back.

* * *

“Yes! Stiles jumps up. “Yesyesyesyes YES!” The rune is glowing steadily. “Take that!” He turns to Tsukiko, “and you said it would take me more than a week to figure this out!” He spins around in a victory dance, “Four days baby! Hell yeah!”  
“Well done. I stand corrected.” Tsukiko says with a chuckle. “Incredible,” she shakes her head in amazement.  
“In your face!” Stiles points at Tsukiko. “What’s next?”  
“Do it again”  
“What.” Stiles’ shoulders slump in disbelief, “come on, I did it perfectly!”  
“Well, first off, I wouldn’t call that _perfect._ It’s good and it works, yes. Perfect? Not quite. Second, and most importantly, you’ve done it successfully _once_. We can move on from this exercise once you’ve shown you can do it _consistently_.”  
“I hate you.”  
“That’s fair.”  
He spends the rest of the day drawing out the rune again and again and it only blows up in his face twice.

By the time Tsukiko forces him back to the apartment, Stiles has earned himself a pair of singed eyebrows and a nod of approval from Tsukiko.

“Alright,” Tsukiko rubs her hands together, “I have another rune for you to learn—”  
“Oh, come on!” Stiles groans.  
Tsukiko raises an eyebrow at him, “ ** _But,_** we’ll start getting to the more combative side of magic as well.”  
“ _Finally._ ” Stiles grins.  
“Well, now I’m tempted to make you do runes,” Tsukiko teases. “Well, anyway, come here,” Tsukiko motions for him to follow her to the middle of the room.  
Stiles follows eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet happily.  
“So, you know how to summon your magic and how to push it out of you, now you’re got to learn how to shape that magic. We’ll start off simple: manifesting magic in your hand.”  
“Wait, am I about to learn how to shoot fireballs?!” Stiles grins.  
“Well, you’re going to learn how to hold one,” Tsukiko rolls her eyes. “Anyhow, you’re going to start by summoning your magic to your hand. Push it out like you did with the ink, but try to draw it back into your palm as soon as it’s out.” Tsukiko holds out her hand and lightning crackles as sparks dance between her fingers.  
“Cool…” Stiles watches her. “Okay, let’s do this!”  
Biting his lip, Stiles focuses on his magic, doing what Tsukiko instructed. His arm tingles as cold rushes towards his hand. Closing his eyes, Stiles concentrates on pushing the magic out. But, the moment his magic leaves his body it disperses out into the air.  
Frowning, he tries again, this time trying to pool more magic into his hand. As his hand starts to go numb, Stiles finally pushes it out. He grasps almost desperately at the wisps of magic that fly away from him but they still float away.  
“I don’t suppose you could be a bit more specific than just ‘draw the magic back into your palm’?”  
“Hmm,” Tsukiko rubs her chin in thought, “Well, once your magic is outside your body, it gets harder to control the farther away from you it gets. So, when you push your magic out you want to keep it as close as possible. When it comes to drawing the magic into your palm, eventually you should figure out how to do it while your magic is completely separate from you, it will be easier if you start off by keeping a small… umm… String? Stream? I’m not sure how to describe it, but basically you can keep your magic connected to you by constantly pushing magic out. It’s wasteful and inefficient, but it can help you get started.”  
“Huh… Okay,” Stiles nods, digesting the information, “thanks.” He forces himself to focus past the chill in his body in order to pull his magic. Unlike with the runes, however, there is not pen, no ink to draw the magic in. Not to mention he actually has to, you know, control the magic, rather than just push it out. It takes a bit of practice, but soon he’s gathering a small ball of magic in the palm of his hand. As it coalesces, the magic flickers into view and, suddenly, he’s holding a small, black flame.  
Stiles’ fingers burn with just how cold the fireball is. He can only hold it in his hand for a few moments before it hurts so much he has to drop it.  
The fireball falls to the ground and Stiles has to step back as it splashes across the floor, almost landing on his feet.  
He expects it to dissipate.  
It doesn’t.  
Tsukiko frowns, leaning down to carefully observe it.  
Stiles panics as the fire starts spreading.  
It grows by an inch or so before the mat glows for a moment before the fire disappears.  
“Well… that’s new.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Is… that not what’s supposed to happen?” Stiles frowns in confusion.  
“Well, do you recall me saying that the more distant your magic is the harder it is to control? Without you controlling it the magic tends to just dissipate…” Tsukiko rubs her chin, “It really shouldn’t have lingered long enough for the safety runes to kick in…”   
“Wonderful…” Stiles groans, “I’m going to assume that that’s a result of the nogitsune’s magic?”  
“Probably,” Tsukiko admits with an apologetic shrug. “But it shouldn’t be much of an issue.”  
“Yeah, with my luck it’s going to nearly get someone killed.” He grumbles.  
“Well, that’s depressing…” Tsukiko raises her eyebrows. “How about we focus less on that and more on the solution?”  
“Right, right…” Stiles shakes his head, refocusing himself. “Alright. Let’s do this.”  
He shakes his arms and shoulders out, calling up his magic once more. Once again, Stiles’ arm tingles as his fingers grow numb from the cold. This time, before it gets too cold, Stiles stops pushing magic into his hand and pushes at the magic still there, trying to get it to disperse. It seems to work, for the most part. A few slivers of fire still fall from his hand, but they’re small enough that they die out before hitting the ground.  
He looks over to Tsukiko with a grin.  
“Wow. I feel like a broken record saying this, but, you picked that up quickly. It takes a bit of control to be able to diffuse your magic like that, especially this soon.” She gives him an amazed smile, “You are unbelievable,” She shakes her head. “Well, I’d say you’re at the level we need to start working on your magic.”  
“Really?” Stiles knows that that is what they were working towards, at least for the moment, but it never really felt like he’d reach that goal. It seems surreal.  
“Yes, really.” Tsukiko says with a grin. “So, I’ll explain how this works as I warm you up?”  
“Please…” He responds with a sheepish smile.  
“Okie-dokie,” Tsukiko offers her hands for Stiles to grab.  
He sighs as Tsukiko’s magic flares up in his chest and rushes through him. Eventually, her magic recedes but this time it doesn’t pull back completely.  
It’s odd, but Stiles isn’t complaining.  
“Okay, basically,” Tsukiko starts as she fishes something out of her pocked with one hand, “I’me going to give you some of my magic to work with. First, I want you to channel your magic into this.” Tsukiko gives Stiles a wooden cylinder about the diameter of Stiles’ thumb and nearly as long as his forearm.” Then you’re going to pull my magic into yours, essentially diluting the nogitsune’s magic. Don’t do it all at once, though, we don’t want to overload the runes.”  
Frowning in confusion, Stiles takes a closer look at the cylinder. With a start, he realizes there are thin, nearly invisible, lines carved into the wood in complex patterns.  
“So, does that mean I’m eventually going to have, like, your magic in me instead of the nogitsune’s?” He wonders aloud. “Not that I’d complain about that. It’d be the opposite. I really like your magic in me!” Stiles rushes to add, wincing at his wording.  
Tsukiko just laughs. “No. I’m unfortunately not a god-like entity, so my magic won’t last forever. Since the rune prevents you from expanding the maximum amount of magic you have we’ll slowly replace all of the nogitsune’s magic. And then as my magic fades, your own reserves will replenish.”  
“And that won’t just add more of the nogitsune’s magic?”  
“Kind of? Let’s see, how do I explain this…” Tsukiko rubs her chin thoughtfully. “So, if we’re saying your magic is water, then the nogitsune’s would be like food coloring. Since my magic doesn’t belong in you, and I’m not strong enough to force it to stay in you like the nogitsune, it’d be more akin to oil. It will create a bit of a layer over the colored water and take up space. Then as my magic disappears, as the oil is removed, you replace it with your water, diluting the food coloring and making it weaker.  
“It’s not a perfect analogy… I mean, the magic you produce will still be tainted by the nogitsune’s. But as there’s less and less of the nogitsune’s magic in your system the magic you produce will have less and less. It’s more of a ‘two step forwards, one step back’ sort of a situation. Does that make sense? I don’t know if that made any sense…” Tsukiko rubs the back of her neck.  
“Yeah. Don’t worry, that made a lot of sense.” Stiles nods.  
“Okay then. Go ahead and start. And remember: just do a little bit at a time.”  
“Got it,” Stiles nods as he pushes his magic out of his hands (it’s getting a lot easier to do that) carefully. Stiles stares for a moment as the lines on the cylinder turn black.  
“What is this anyway?” He asks.  
“Um… think of it like an incinerator, but for magic.”  
Stiles isn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Mentally, he shrugs. _Whatever._ Closing his eyes, Stiles focuses on Tsukiko’s magic.  
“You’ll want to reach your magic out to touch mine,” Tsukiko instructs.  
That part is easy enough for Stiles to do.  
“Now, this is going to be a little tricky. As I mentioned before, my magic doesn’t really belong _in_ yours. Our magic can touch but, like oil and water, won’t mix. So, you have to wrap your magic around mine to pull it in.”  
“Got it,” Stiles mutters. He does as instructed, reaching out to Tsukiko’s magic with his own.  
Stiles can feel a crackle of power from her magic, buzzing calmly as he tries to wrap his magic around it.  
It’s frustrating, to say the least. Tsukiko was very accurate when she said her magic was oil compared to his; every time he tries to wrap around her magic it slips though his grasp. The first thing Stiles tries is just wrapping his magic around Tsukiko’s like he were lassoing her magic. Clearly, that didn’t work, it mostly just cut through the magic, separating a part of Tsukiko’s magic from the rest for a moment. Next, he tries spiraling his magic around Tsukiko’s and slowly closing down on it, but that works just as well as his first try.  
“Try flattening your magic out,” Tsukiko speaks up after a while, “of, if it’s easier, form your magic into a sort of net or mesh.”  
“Okay,” Stiles nods, closing his eyes to focus. He tries flattening his magic out but when he tries he just pushes his own magic around, not actually shaping it into a flat plane. It is a little easier to make a net. A _little_.  
Stiles bites his lip. It’s the first time he’s trying to make multiple streams of his magic. I’ts a headache to simply _split_ his magic into more strings. Clearly, the way he’s been doing things so far isn’t going to work here, he simply _can’t_ nudge all of these separate strings to where he needs them to be.  
Great.  
Scowling, Stiles glares down and practically growls in frustration at the wooden cylinder in his hands.  
Then he blinks.  
Stiles tares at the black lines winding themselves around the wood in his hands. Delicate, little lines crisscross and spiral over the surface of the cylinder. He cocks his head to the side in thought, studying the intricate patterns carved into the wooden cylinder. Looking closely, Stiles can actually _see_ the lines pulsing with the magic running through them.  
 _Magic running through lines that are already carved…  
_ Stiles grins.  
That’s gotta be it! He rolls out his shoulders and stretches his neck as he focuses on what he needs to do.  
Closing his eyes, Stiles guides a stream of magic towards Tsukiko’s magic. He starts off by splitting into eight separate streams. Stiles imagines paths guiding the smoke around Tsukiko’s magic and weaving together.  
Stiles exhales slowly, drawing the streams of magic tighter together before pulling his net in.  
A little bit of Tsukiko’s magic slips through the gaps, but most of it is moved by his magic.  
Stiles is so happy that it works that his concentration wavers and the net collapses. He doesn’t care that much, he knows how to do it now.  
Tsukiko chuckles, grinning at the look on his face.  
By the time Stiles has finished, he’s barely got enough energy to get back to the apartment.

* * *

They fall into a rhythm for the rest of the week. Bot Tsukiko and Sties eat a quick breakfast before heading over to the workshop. Down in the basement, Tsukiko has Stiles practice runes for a few hours. Then she’ll have Stiles work on manifesting his magic, having him form his magic into various shapes and sizes. That, predictably, is Stiles’ favorite part of the day. After that, they’ll go out for lunch. When they get back, Stiles works on runes for another hour or so before Tsukiko will pull him back out to the mat. Then comes Stiles’ second favorite part of the day: when Tsukiko teaches him to fight. At the moment, Tsukiko is simply teaching Stiles the basics, working on his form and building up his strength. He eagerly await the day when they start working magic into the fighting, but he knows that’s still a ways off. They’ll end the day with stiles working to clean out his magic a little more before they go back home, eat dinner, then hit they hay.  
It’s just as the week is over that their rhythm is interrupted.  
Stiles wakes up to the smell of breakfast as usual. That’s pretty much the only part of the routine he gets to. Tsukiko gets a phone call as Stiles starts eating.  
“Hello?” Tsukiko greets. “Calvin,” she sighs, “What’s up?”  
Stiles can’t help but wonder who Calvin is. Tsukiko is silent for a while, nodding and ‘mmhmm’ing every once in a while.  
“Okay, alright.” Tsukiko pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’ll keep that in mind.”  
Hanging up, Tsukiko looks over to Stiles. He raises a questioning eyebrow.  
“Well, I’m sure you’ve gathered that something’s wrong…” She rubs a hand over her face. “Apparently something’s been making its way towards L.A. from Arizona. Calvin, one of the few decent hunters out there, called to let me know. Of course, he doesn’t know what it is. No, that would be far too convenient.”  
Stiles huffs in amusement.  
“I’ve got to look into this. Whatever this thing is, it’s killing innocents. I can’t let this thing run around L.A.”  
“Understandable,” Stiles nods. “What are we working with here?”  
Tsukiko raises a surprised eyebrow at him. “Well, not much. Calvin either didn’t know much or he didn’t want to tell me much.” She scowls.  
“And he’s a _decent_ hunter?” Stiles raises an eyebrow at Tsukiko.  
“Yeah. Decent. Not good.” She explains with a sigh.  
Stiles can only chuckle at her response.  
“But,” Tsukiko continues, “He gave me a little information. First off, the deaths have all been reported as animal attacks, surprise, surprise. Not that that helps much. However,” Tsukiko raises a finger, “Apparently, all the bodies showed signs that point to them dying either by venom or heart attack. Of course, there’s no traces of venom in their bodies and, for the most part, the victims were healthy, young adults that really shouldn’t have had heart attacks.”  
“Delightful.” Stiles sighs. Mentally, he starts going through all of the creatures he’s researched for Scott, but he knows he hasn’t heard of anything that matches what they’ve been told.  
“So are we looking at something more reptilian then?” Stiles asks.  
“It’s most likely reptilian, yes, but it would be a bad idea to rule out non-reptilian creatures. There are plenty of venomous creatures that aren’t reptilian; keres and nosoi are the first that come to mind.”  
Stiles files that information away in his mind.  
“It’s a pretty safe bet to say that it’s not a were-creature, though. None of them have venom, at least not like this.” Tuskiko hums in thought. “I’ll have to check Nia’s notes…”  
“Nia?”  
“My teacher. She was also born into the supernatural world and she kept notes on just about every creature she ran in to.” Tsukiko explains as she heads to her room. She comes back with a stack of notebooks and a laptop.  
“I’ve managed to transfer a couple of her books into a digital format for ease of access, but, uh…” She motions at the stack she brought out, “there are still a lot of books for me to go through.”  
“Well, I can start searching through the books while you take the laptop?” Stiles suggests.  
Tsukiko shakes her head. “I can research while you train.”  
“What?!” Stiles scowls, “You expect me to just do nothing?!”  
“This is my problem to deal with, you don’t have to get involved.”  
“I’m not just going to sit back when I can help. _At least_ let me help you research!” Stiles argues.  
“It’s nothing I can’t handle—”  
“But you’ll handle it faster with help!”  
Tsukiko looks at him oddly for a moment before shrugging. “Well, if you’re that determined to help I’m hardly going to turn you down.”  
“At least give me a chance! I can help, I’m not useless! I can— Wait, what?” He blinks in surprise as Tsukiko’s words register.  
“It’s not that I’m doubting your skill or intelligence. I suppose I just figured you’d rather want to focus on your own training.” She explains, “But you’re right: this will go faster with your help.”  
“You’re not going to argue that I’m, like, not strong enough or whatever?” Stiles finds himself asking, bewildered.  
“Stiles, I’ve been training you for just over two weeks and you’ve progressed farther than most would in a year. You are anything but weak. I’m just more accustomed to dealing with these things on my own, I suppose.” Tsukiko shrugs.  
It throws Stiles off, having someone say something so positive about his own abilities so nonchalantly, almost thoughtlessly. He reels at the words, almost missing what Tsukiko says next.  
“Alright. You can start looking through these books,” She pushes four of the notebooks towards Stiles, “And I’ll start looking through what I’ve transferred to the laptop and these notebooks as well.”  
“Sounds like a plan,” Stiles grins, trying to ignore how much this reminds him of research sessions with Lydia.  
He pulls a notebook out of the stack. Immediately, he realizes just how much of a task this is going to be.  
The first entry alone is jam packed with info.  
He’s fascinated at just how much information Nia collected on these creatures.

They spend the time researching in easy silence, occasionally throwing out a theory to the other. Stiles dives into research just like he always does, and Tsukiko seems just as iintent on figuring out what this creature is as he is.  
“Could it be a Kalkarra?” Stiles suggests.  
“Hmm,” Tsukiko bites her lip, “I don’t think so. It may explain the heart attacks, but they don’t have venom, right? You could be on the right track though…” She hums thoughtfully, “Could be something that can kill with their gaze…” Tsukiko starts flipping through one of the notebooks purposefully. Eventually she must find what she’s looking for.  
“Here,” She points at a page, turning the notebook towards Stiles.  
“Basilisk?!” Stiles’ eyebrows raise, “Those are a thing?” He’s not sure whether he should be excited or terrified. He settles on both.  
“Yes, but Harry Potter gets it all wrong.” Tsukiko tells him. “No. _Real_ basilisks are actually more like rooster-snake hybrids. Though, Harry Potter did get the death glare and poison kinda right.” She admits.  
“ _Rooster-snake hybrid…”_ Stiles repeats.  
“Yeah.” Tsukiko nods. “They can kill simply by making eye contact and they have extremely poisonous breath.”  
“Fun.” Stiles sighs. “How do we kill it?”  
“Well, Nia’s notes lists two ways. Uh..” Tsukiko scratches the back of her head, “Well, one way is to make the basilisk look at its own reflection. The other is… apparently… umm…”  
Stiles raises an eyebrow. “Yes?”  
“The crow of a rooster can apparently kill a basilisk…”  
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Stiles bites his lip as he tries not to laugh. He looks over the entry in toe notebook. “Hold on,” Stiles makes a time out sign with his hands. “Basilisks are made by having a toad sit on a rooster egg?”  
“Apparently. Now,” Tsukiko frowns in thought, “Unfortunately I don’t have any roosters on hand…”  
“What?!” Stiles gasps in mock surprise. “You don’t have a rooster just sitting around, waiting for their moment to shin and kill a basilisk?” He shakes a finger at her, “Shame on you.”  
Tsukiko snorts “Well, anyway,” She rubs her chin, “Now we need to focus on finding the basilisk. Assuming that’s what it is. Hopefully we can stop this thing before it racks up a kill count in L.A. too.”  
“That would be a novel experience for me,” Stiles shrugs. “Well, it says here that the breath of the basilisk is so potent that it kills herbs and even shatters rocks.”  
“Yeah. Cause there aren’t any dead plants or potholes in L.A.” Tsukiko huffs. “I think we’re going to have to get a little more creative to get the job done.”  
“Well, what are you proposing then?”  
“Time to introduce you to tracking magic, I suppose.” Tsukiko shrugs.  
“Tracking magic? That’s a thing?” Stiles grins. _This is gonna be awesome.  
_ “Yes, tracking magic is a thing.” Tsukiko chuckles. “Come on, let’s head over to the workshop.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late upload, I've been helping clean up my grandparents' house! I'm going to try to upload every other Sunday from now on!

Stiles follows Tsukiko to the workshop once more. This time, before she heads down to the basement she grabs a rolled-up tube of paper from a cabinet.  
“So, tracking spells are… interesting.” Tsukiko starts off as they walk down the stairs. “Of course, the more information you have, the more accurate the results will be. So be wary using this sort of magic when you don’t have a lot of information. You might end up on a wild goose chase.”  
“Got it. More information: good. Less information: bad.” Stiles nods.  
“Yeah. Now, this is something I haven’t really covered because it hadn’t really become relevant yet, but when you use magic, intent matters.”  
“Huh?” Stiles tilts his head to the side.  
“Essentially, your magic knows what you want it to do, so it’ll do what it can to achieve within the restraints of what you’re doing.”   
“Okay. I think I get it…” Stiles scratches his chin.  
“It’ll be clearer once you get into more complicated magic.” Tsukiko shrugs. “Now, to track this basilisk down…” She plops the roll of paper down onto the table and unrolls it to reveal a map.  
“So how does this work, exactly?” Stiles asks. “You’re magic is just going to point to something on the map?”  
“I wish it were that simple.” Tsukiko chuckles. “No. The map is just a way to visualize what I’m going to do. Essentially, I’ll be spreading out my magic over a wide area with the intent of looking for the threat to this city.”  
Stiles whistles. “That sounds hard.”  
“Well, it’s not a walk in the park, but I do have some things going for me.” She grins. “First off, I’m familiar with L.A. That helps a lot. But, more importantly, I have runes set up throughout the city that’ll help me spread my magic more efficiently. Otherwise there’d be no way for me to try this over such a large area. Without the runes to help I’d really only be able to cast my magic out for a mile or so in any direction.”  
“Yeah. I can see how things would get a little challenging.” Stiles raises his eyebrows, shocked.  
“Yes. But basically, my magic will hopefully locate the basilisk and then reflect that onto the map.” She says, leaning over the table with her hands on either side of the map.  
“Hopefully?” Stiles frowns.  
Tsukiko shrugs, “There’s always a chance for things to fail. But it shouldn’t.”  
“Fair enough,” Stiles sighs. “So what now?”  
“Now, I get to work.” Tsukiko takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.  
There’s a thrum of energy surrounding them, Stiles realizes, like static in the air.  
Tsukiko’s eyes snap open. They’re blazing with a silver light.  
“Woah…” Stiles mutters.  
He watches as every once in a while, lightning flickers between Tsukiko’s fingers. He half expects the map to go up in flames, but the paper isn’t so much as singed. As he looks closer, Stiles can actually see the faint glow of magic spreading over the map. He assumes that must be how far Tsukiko’s magic is spreading over the city.  
Eventually, the glow stops spreading before receding, growing brighter as it does. Soon, the magic is merely a pinprick of light at the edge of the city.  
Slowly, Tsukiko closes her eyes. For a moment, Stiles can see the glow of her eyes through her eyelids, but that fades quickly. When she opens her eyes they’ve returned to their usual brown color.  
“Is that where the basilisk is?” Stiles points at the small point of light.  
“Well, there’s something there. Let’s hope it’s the basilisk.” Tsukiko gives him a tired grin.  
“Why wouldn’t it be?”   
“Well, if it isn’t the basilisk, it means there’s something more threatening than that in L.A. right now.”  
Stiles kinda regrets asking now. He _really_ doesn’t like that thought.   
“I’m pretty sure it was the basilisk, though. “ Tsukiko reassures him as she sees the look on his face.  
“OH. Well, that’s good.” _Relatively._

* * *

“ _Are you sure this is a good idea?_ ” Stiles whispers.  
Tsukiko raises an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t have to come with me.”  
“Well, the best way to get better is experience, right?” He tries to ignore the way his voice is tight with nerves.   
“Well, yes. But generally, people start off slow.” She replies. “This isn’t just diving in to the deep end, this is like going freediving with weights on.”  
“Well that’s reassuring, thanks.” Stiles grits his teeth.  
“Just keep that charm on and stay back.” Tsukiko instructs. “You’ll be fine.”   
On the way over here Tsukiko had given Stiles a chain necklace with a wooden charm hanging from it.  
“It’s a potent shielding charm,” She had explained, “it triggers automatically, but if you feel you need it, just channel a bit of magic into it.”   
He fingers the charm nervously as they near their destination.  
“This should be it.”   
They’re standing at the entrance to an old parking structure.”   
“You can stay out here, if you want.” She offers. “I’m more than capable of dealing with this myself.”  
“I want to help.” Stiles shakes his head resolutely. “I don’t want to just stand by and wait.”  
Tsukiko shrugs. “Okay.”  
Part of him wishes she’d put up a little bit more of a fight.  
“You remember the plan?”  
Stiles nods, swallowing past his dry throat. “Yeah. Uh, put the mirrors up while you get the basilisk’s attention.” He motions to his backpack and the duffel bag Tsukiko’s carrying that has mirrors packed carefully in them. “Try to cover as many angles as possible. Get out of here when you give me the signal or I hear you coming. Then stay back.”   
Tsukiko nods in acknowledgement. “Good. Better get started.” She grins, patting him on the shoulder and placing the duffel bag down.  
And then she’s gone.   
Stiles hurries to get his part of the job done. He props mirrors up against columns and walls, spreading them out as much as possible. Stiles covers everything as well as he can manage, but it’s impossible to cover the entire level. With a scowl, Stiles admits to himself that that’s the best he can do for now.  
All that’s left is to wait for—  
Stiles’ hands fly to his ears as a deafening screech echoes through the parking structures.  
 _Okay then…_  
He rushes towards the exit.  
Of course, why would anything ever be easy for Stiles?  
As he’s a few steps from the exit, a wall of dark blue magic flickers into existence just in time for Stiles to slam into it.  
Scowling, Stiles rubs his forehead. “What the hell?!”  
Another ear-splitting screech echoes thought he parking structure.  
 _Perfect._  
Stiles casts his eyes around but this is a parking structure. There aren’t really a whole lot of places to hide.   
Suddenly, he’s thrown to the floor again as a pulse of magic slams into him. He can hear the tinkling of shattered glass hitting the floor.   
_Not good. Not good!  
_ Stiles slams his eyes closed as he’s suddenly aware of the sound of something _big_ rushing towards him. He scrambles to his feet desperately.  
Tsukiko’s magic rushes around him as what he assumes is the basilisk breathes out poison at him. Stiles can feel the charm heating up against his chest. He hears the concrete cracking around his feet as he tries to sprint away.  
 _Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!_  
Stiles doesn’t get far before the basilisk slams into him from behind. Despite the shield, he’s still knocked to the ground from the force of it. The char gets even hotter as the basilisk continues its attack.  
Stiles is sure that the basilisk won’t even need to make eye contact, the sheer _terror_ of it standing over him is nearly enough to kill Stiles. He’s frozen, barely able to tremble as the basilisk slams into the shield over and over.  
The charm keeps heating up and Stiles has no clue how much longer it’ll last.  
 _Oh god… what the fuck am I supposed to do?!_  
Then Stiles snaps.  
He’s not useless. He’s not defenseless. He’s not _just_ a squishy human anymore. He has magic now.  
Anger bubbles up in Stiles’ gut as his magic flares up. Cold flames rush through his body and replaces the fear.  
With his eyes closed, Stiles rolls over onto his back as he summons his magic into the palm of his hand. Freezing tongues of fire lick at his arm as he thrusts his hand up with a snarl.  
The basilisk shrieks in pain as it retreats and the scent of burning feathers and flesh fills the garage. The shrieking stops and Stiles ca hear a meaty thud against the ground. He waits for a moment, listening for any hints of movement before tentatively opening his eyes.   
“What the fuck…?” Stiles gasps as he finally sees the creature. It’s one thing to see a drawing of a basilisk, it’s another entirely to see it in real life.  
The basilisk’s rooster head seems to blend seamlessly into a scaled neck. The body… it takes Stiles a moment to really process what he’s seeing. It looks very much like a chicken’s, or rather a rooster he supposes, body minus the feathers and wings and with scales instead. And, of course, rather than tail feathers, the body ends with a long, reptilian tail.  
More concerning, however, are the black flames still burning over the basilisk’s corpse. The fire is burning through the creature’s body quickly and, within minutes, there’s nothing but a pile of ash. For a moment it seems as though the fire won’t stop, spreading to the concrete, but then the flames flicker out.  
“ _What the fuck?_ ” He finds himself repeating. Stiles supposes he’ll just have to ask Tsukiko—  
 _Tsukiko!_  
 _Fuck, where is she?! If the basilisk made it past her does that mean she’s…  
_ Stiles feels like he can’t suck in a breath as the thought flits through his mind.  
“ _Oh god…”_ He gives a horrified whisper.  
Stiles shakes himself out of it. He has to find her. Tsukiko may not be… She might be hurt. Stiles rushes through the doorway Tsukiko disappeared into earlier and rushes up the stairs.   
When he gets to the next level he freezes in shock.  
“Fuck!”  
Startled, a man who Stiles can only assume is a hunter, whirls around to face him.  
That turns out to be a big mistake on the hunter’s part.  
The instant his eyes are off her, Tsukiko attacks. Her eyes flare silver as she dashes forward.   
The man tries to turn back to Tsukiko but he’s not fast enough. Tsukiko snakes an arm around his neck and squeezes. Even as the man’s eyes bug out in surprise lightning arcs over his skin and he spasms in Tsukiko’s grip before falling limp.   
With an exhausted sigh, Tsukiko lets the man slump to the floor before sinking to the ground herself.   
Then Stiles notices the knife in her shoulder, surrounded by a growing stain of blood.  
“Oh my god!” he rushes over to Tsukiko, hands hovering tentatively over the wound.  
She waves him off, “Are you alright?”  
“Am _I_ alright?!” Stiles’ eyebrows shoot up, “I’m not the one with a knife in my shoulder!”  
“What happened to the basilisk?” It got a little hard to keep track of the thing when these five started trying to kill me.” With a scowl, Tsukiko motions around at the five men and women lying limp on the ground.  
“It’s… gone?” Stiles says hesitantly. He’s not sure what Tsukiko the _how_ of the matter here.   
Judging by the look on her face Stiles figures she has a good idea of what happened regardless. “Because of you?”  
“Yes?”  
Tsukiko just nods. “Well then. Congratulations on defeating a basilisk.” She gives him a small smile. Then, gritting her teeth, Tsukiko pulls the knife out of her shoulder.  
“Jesus!” Stiles gasps, “Don’t pull it out! You’re going to lose more blood!”  
Tsukiko huffs in amusement. “I’ll be fine.”  
He stares incredulously at her.  
“Don’t look at me like that,” She rolls her eyes, “this is hardly the worst I’ve gone through.”   
“Is that supposed to comfort me?!” Stiles scowls.  
“I’ll be fine.” Tsukiko repeats. “Just gotta get home. I can patch myself up.”  
“Can’t you, like, I don’t know, heal yourself or something?”  
“Healing magic isn’t exactly my forte,” Tsukiko explains, “And it’s a lot harder to heal yourself than someone else. And I used up a fair bit of magic tracking the basilisk down and then fighting these idiots.”  
“Oh…”  
“I think I’ll leave them here. If I’m in a better mood by the time we get back to the apartment, I’ll let Calvin know about them.”  
“And if you aren’t in a better mood?” Stiles raises an eyebrow.  
“Then I’ll let them deal with the police.”  
  
“How much first aid do you know?” Tsukiko asks.  
Stiles tries not to faint as he watches her clean out the knife wound. “Um… just, uh, basics I guess.” He shrugs.  
“So I suppose you don’t know how to stitch up a wound?”  
Stiles tense at the thought before slowly shaking his head no, desperately hoping Tsukiko doesn’t need help.  
“I know you have a bit of an… aversion to needles, but it’s probably something you should know since humans don’t exactly have super healing or anything.”  
With a sigh, Stiles nods reluctantly, “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”   
“Well, pay attention then. It’s best you at least know how to do it. If you’re in a situation where you or someone else needs stitches, it’s better to have done it sloppily than incorrectly or not at all.”  
  
Stiles is very proud of himself. He manages to stay conscious for the whole lesson.

* * *

“How often does that happen?” Stiles asks over breakfast the next morning.  
“What, getting injured?” Not really, but it sorta depends on what you’re going up against too.” Tsukiko says with a shrug, wincing as she moves her shoulder.  
“No, I mean, having to deal with a monster or hunters or whatever.” Because Beacon Hills was, well, a beacon for trouble thanks to the Nemeton. Stiles has no clue what normal would before the supernatural world when it comes to monster attacks.  
“Oh,” Tsukiko rubs her chin. “Well, it doesn’t happen too often in L.A. But that’s because L.A. has a bit of a… reputation.”  
Stiles isn’t sure what to make of that, but before he gets a chance to ask Tsukiko to elaborate, she continues.  
“But, I mean, that sort of thing does need to be taken into consideration when answering that question. Territories under a pack of wolves’ protection wouldn’t really have as many incidents as places that don’t have anyone guarding them.” She frowns thoughtfully, “L.A. only has to deal with a stray beast every month or so. Generally, hunters, wolves, and the like don’t come here.”  
“Why not?”  
“It’s… a long story.”  
Stiles frowns, unsure of whether he should push for more or not. Eventually, his curiosity wins out. “We’ve got time.”   
Tsukiko falls silent. The pause grows long enough that Stiles considers apologizing and letting it go. But then Tsukiko speaks.  
“The pack that lived here, that guarded L.A. was one of the biggest, most respected, and sometimes even feared, pack in the world.”  
“ _Was?_ ” Stiles can’t help but point out the rather obvious past tense.  
“They were… massacred in their own home. A family of hunters teamed up with a rival pack of wolves The hunters gassed the place with wolfsbane smoke, enough that even some of the pack’s humans were killed by it. The rival pack of wolves were waiting just outside to prevent anyone from escaping. Just like that, this territory’s pack was wiped out. Any wolves that made it out of the smoke were easy pickings for the pack waiting for them. The humans even more so.”  
“What?!” Stiles’ words come out as a mix between a gasp and a growl.  
“That’s not even the worst part of the story…”  
Stiles kinda regrets asking about this now.  
“For the most part, the only pack members to make it out of the house, both wolf and human, were _children_.”  
Stiles’ heart practically stops at the word. Children. _Children?!_  
“The adults thought they were only dealing with the hunters and they sacrificed themselves to slow down the hunters so that the kids could escape.”   
_“Fuck.”_ Stiles curses under his breath.  
“Nia, my teacher, was the pack’s emissary. The rival pack a requested a meeting, emissary-to-emissary.”  
Stiles isn’t sure how to respond to that. He can’t imagine what he’d do if he went back home to find that everyone he loves had been killed while he was gone. Just the thought ties his stomach in a knot.  
“But yeah…” Tsukiko clears her throat, rubbing the back of her neck, “No one messes with L.A. because about seven years ago, a year after Nia was killed, mind you, the wolf pack and hunter family that killed the pack that lived here just disappeared.” She makes a little ‘poof’ motion with her hands.  
“Well, that…” _Good,_ he wants to say. He doesn’t.  
“Nonetheless, no pack has tried to claim the territory since the Jacobson pack went missing. And hunters have stayed away since the Smith family disappeared.”  
“And…” Stiles starts hesitantly, “you’re not afraid of whatever made them disappear?”   
Tsukiko gives him an odd look. “No. I’m not. I’m here to protect the territory and the people in it.”  
Tsukiko lets out a slow breath.  
Stiles jumps in surprise as she suddenly claps her hands together.  
“Well, that was fun. How about we get back to magic?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love some feedback or constructive criticism. Especially since I have a hard time telling if I'm writing people in character or not.  
> I hope you enjoyed, thank you so much for reading! :D


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